A GRIEVING publican and his wife who lost their only son in a car crash have praised friends and family for their support as they prepare to re-open their Mamble pub.

Roger and Wendy Carr, who run The Sun and Slipper Inn, bid farewell to 20-year-old David last Thursday in a service at Mamble Church, attended by more than 400 people.

Despite still not having recovered from their loss, they are re-opening their pub tomorrow, fearing financial pressure will close them down permanently.

"We've had the pub shut since January 6 so we've lost a lot of business and need support to pick the business back up," said Roger.

"We have to open or we'll end up shutting down because bills don't go away and we have still got staff on the books who rely on us.

"We want to let our regulars know we are re-opening this weekend and are hoping people will trickle in again."

Forty-three-year-old Wendy added: "We can't really face it but we know we've got to re-open.

"David was our rock - he used to help out when we were busy."

Her 48-year-old husband said his family achieved planning permission for a new restaurant and were planning to start building work this year.

They have now put their plans on hold and are looking for a new bar manager to enable Wendy to spend more time with 16-year-old daughter, Lauren.

"When you lose your first child the stuffing gets ripped out of you," said Roger, who previously ran The Duke William pub in Rock.

"We have a restaurant upstairs and were planning to re-open it down here but we're not sure what we'll do now because we've had the enthusiasm knocked out of us."

David, who was due to complete a four-year aeronautical engineering apprenticeship in September, died at the scene when his Ford Focus was involved in a collision with an Audi A4 Sports Cabriolet on the A449 at Stourton.

Among the mourners were team-mates and coaches from The Loom and Shuttle football team and Bewdley Town.